Reid s problem
by and.why.the.hell.not
Summary: Morgan notices that something is off with Reid and decides to help him.


"I guess I´ll be heading home now. See you tomorrow" Reid said sleepily. He was cleaning up his desk and passed Morgan whose look went up from the file he was working on. The older man watched Reid closely and furrowed his brow for a moment.

"Hey Reid, need a lift?" he jumped up and grabbed his jacked when Reid was already at the door. Reid turned around, obviously puzzled.

"Yeah sure, but I thought you said before that you would probably have to work on something for the whole night."

"It has to be ready tomorrow morning but I can come early in the morning and finish it" Morgan said, already feeling tired on the thought to stand up earlier as he already does. But he had noticed something on Reid in the last couple of days and he had to be sure that his young friend was okay.

They left the building and went over to Morgan´s car. Reid sat on the passenger seat with his bag on his lap - looking like a shy teenager - with his eyes fixed on the street. Morgan looked over at him.

"Okay pretty boy, tell me what´s going on in that beautiful mind of yours" he said looking on the street again to give Reid some space and not force the conversation on him.

"I´m feeling a little bit dizzy I guess. Probably just tired." Reid answered and started fiddling with his bag.

"Come on. I have seen you when you were tired before and this sure ain´t it" Morgan said, looking his friend directly into the eyes this time. When no answer came he looked back on the street and quietly added "See, I know there is something going on with you and I would like to know if I can help."

"Remember when I told you about my nightmares?" Reid asked after some silence.

"How could I forget" Morgan glanced at Reid, already worried about what he would be hearing next.

"Well, I had some nightmares a couple of days in a row and since then I..."

"How long?" Morgan did not want to interrupt Reid but he already knew that Reid probably had not slept in a couple of days and now it was very important for him to know how urgent the situation was already.

Reid looked on his clock "Six days, 9 hours and 52 minutes."

"Six days?!" Morgan stepped on the brake and made an immediate turn. Reid had to clutch the handle to keep himself upright.

"What are you doing?" he half-screamed.

Morgan got in line on the other side of the street. "I´ll take you home" he answered casually.

"You were going to but now we are driving in the opposite direction" his friend stated.

"Not to your home. To mine." Reid wanted to protest put Morgan simply added "No argument."

When they entered Morgans home he led Reid to the couch where the younger man sat down while Morgan went into the kitchen. "You want something to drink? Tea maybe?" he shouted after he vanished through the door. "Yeah thanks"

A few minutes later the two men sat next to each other, both a fuming cup in their hands.

"You really don´t have to do this Morgan. I can go home and sleep there."

"Apparently not. And as I said before: No argument. You are going to stay here for the night. I have an extendable couch in the bedroom, it is really comfy I promise."

They finished their tea and after bringing the cups into the kitchen Morgan showed Reid to his bedroom. It was a big room with wide windows. In one corner was a couch which Morgan turned into a bed in a few seconds. "Here you go. I´ll be heading to the bathroom, in the meantime you can take the pillow and blanket out of that drawer over there and make yourself comfy. He left the room and Reid made his bed for the night. He was happy to have a friend like Morgan but at the moment he wasn´t sure if this was going to work. He liked to be at his own apartment with all the old wooden furniture and his books and at the moment he felt out of place in Morgans big and modern house.

When Morgan came back Reid went to the bathroom and got ready for bed. When he entered the room shortly after that Morgan was already only in his underwear. Reid felt very uncomfortable thinking that he had to undress in his presence. He was already thinking about leaving his shirt on when he noticed Morgan sitting on his bed and looking at him.

"You are red like a tomato, kid. It´s fine if you leave it on, just know that I am not somebody to judge okay?" he said and turned around to lie down.

Reid looked at him a little while longer and then made a quick decision. He took off his shirt and made himself comfy on the couch. He had good reasons to be shy in situations like this especially because of his High school years but right know he knew that he was safe. Morgan was his best friend - actually the first real friend he ever had - and he would never hurt him. He knew he could trust him.

"And now shut your eyes, stop your mind from thinking at least once and get a good nights sleep. Understand?"

"Good night" was Reid´s only answer and with a smile Morgan turned out the light.

At first Reid couldn´t fall asleep. Morgan could tell by the sound of his friend twisting and turning next to him. But then it stopped and he heard Reid´s breathing evening out and with a sight the agent closed his eyes to get himself some sleep.

In the middle of the night Morgan woke up by the sound of someone struggling. His first instinct was to grab his gun on the drawer next to him but then he realized that the sound came from the couch right next to him. Reid had started twisting and turning again but it didn´t sound like somebody trying to fall asleep. Reid was having a nightmare. Morgan turned on the small light on his night stand and went over to Reid. The young agent was clutching the blanked with both hands and had pearls of sweat on his forehead. Morgan thought about letting him sleep but then Reid started breathing faster and grumbling in pain. He started to shake his friend gently. It took Reid a few moments to really wake up and take in his surroundings.

"You had a nightmare" Morgan stated with a worried expression on his face while moving back on his own bed, sitting opposite to Reid.

"I am sorry. Did I wake you up?" Reid ask rubbing his eyes.

"There is nothing to be sorry for. Do you want to tell me what you were dreaming about?" Morgan knew that it would be best for Reid to talk about it but he also did not want to pressure him into it.

"It´s not like the other times" Morgan looked at his friend, focusing on what he was about to say.

"Before my nightmares had something to do with our job. I saw dead people and murderers that I could not get. But this time is different. This time I dreamed about..." Reid had to close his eyes for a moment and continued "This time I dreamed about not remembering." Reid looked Morgan in the eyes now.

"Not remembering? Not remembering what?" Morgan asked confused.

"Everything. The BAU, our work, JJ, Hotch, Rossi...you. In my dreams I sometimes even don´t remember my own name" his voice broke and a single tear rolled down his cheek. Reid quickly dried his face with the blanked that now laid over his shoulders. Morgan seemed to not notice it at all. He now started understanding what was going on with his friend.

"This is about your mom, isn´t it?" he carefully asked.

"Since she was diagnosed with Alzheimer´s I thought about it all the time. I can´t be tested right now and it is driving me crazy. A few weeks ago I visited my mom and as I entered the room I could see it." Reid took a deep breath. "The first few seconds she couldn´t remember me, her own son."

"I am so sorry Reid"

"She quickly remembered but in those few seconds something broke in me" Another tear rolled down his face and this time he didn´t even care. Morgan stood up and sat down next to Reid. He laid his arm around his friend´s shoulder and Reid let himself sink against Morgan.

"I can´t do anything to help her, Morgan"

"There is plenty you are doing already. Be there for her, make her remember nice events in her life. Maybe you can bring her some pictures when you visit her next time."

Reid calmed down a little bit. "Yeah, I can do that."

"You can´t change her condition at this point but the most important thing right now is to make her realize that she is important to you and that you love her. When you need some time to care for your mother I am pretty sure that you can take it. You are needed in the BAU but your mom needs you too. We are there for you if you need anything. You just have to ask."

After some time in quiet Reid had calmed down and sat up again.

"Thank you, Morgan" he said when Morgan stood up and went over to his own bed. He turned around and looked at his friend.

"You´re welcome. And Reid?" Morgan turned around again to face his friend.

"Yes?"

"You know that you can always come to me when you have a problem, okay? Any problem at all."

"I know. Thanks"  
"Don´t mention it"

They both went back to bed and there was no interruption until the sun woke both men in the morning. Morgan made breakfast and they sat down in the kitchen.

"How did you sleep?" Morgan asked and took a sip if his coffee.

"Good, thanks. By the way, didn´t you want to go to work early this morning?"

"Well, yeah but there are more important things than that" Morgan said with a smile on his face thinking about when he woke up and didn´t want to wake Reid up who was sleeping like a baby.


End file.
